Christmas came early this year for me as I was selected to review a few upcoming Hobbit set. According to my latest LEGO magazine these are available for purchase Nov. 27th, so here is an early preview.

LEGO has a way of showing absolutely every feature of their sets in one picture. I don't know how they do it. I love LEGO box art so much that I have saved every LEGO box I've ever bought since coming back to LEGO in adulthood. This one does not disappoint I love how TLG is able to show all the features in action, like the fire being thrown from the trees and the small catapult. This is a good box!

Back:

Again what more can I say than look at the beautiful pictures that show every fun aspect of this set. The flick fire bombs, the catapult, the Wargs. I also like something i don't recall seeing before, and that is a section on the back showing just the weapons. I decided to do this in my review as well because I thought the weapon selection was worth it's own shot, apparently TLG did to.

Side:

The side of the box actually has a lot of empty space. there is the standard box with a "to scale" minifigure and that's about it. No worries though as the front and back of the box make up for it ten fold.

Instructions:

Per standard operating procedure, the image on the front of the instructions is the same as the front of the box. A great scene worth being repeated. instead of the usual random page of the instructions I'll show you something I absolutely love.

Figures page:

At the end of the instruction manual is this spread of all the minifigures in the what I assume is the first run of Hobbit sets. There is a little box for you to check off when you have one and they have gone as far as listing the set number that the figure comes in. Awesome!

Instructions Preview page:

As if the last page wasn't enough, you also get a nice preview of some of the larger sets in the Hobbit line. Both of these have quickly made my short list. Remember there are high res pictures at my flickr account.

Instruction Preview page 2:

Minifigures

Front:

From left to right we have Bifur the Dwarf, Thorin Oakshield, Hunter Orc, Yazneg, and another Hunter Orc. As in my other review, I'm not a big fan of the small legs, but they are necessary to get the size of the Dwarf just right. The torsos could easily be used in other historic themes, such as the Lord of the Rings, of Pirates of the Caribbean.

Back:

There is back printing on all figures, I removed most headpieces to show the printing on the back of the heads, or the other faces on the Dwarfs. I like Yazneg's chest piece, it reminds me of something you'd see on a prison guard in some old beat up prison.

Bilfur with no beard and back printing:

Per the special request I have taken a picture of Bilfur without his beard and in the process reminded myself I left out his back printing.

Weapons:

The weapons selection is pretty standard for a Historic theme. We get one of the newer style spears with the printed end. One of the large swords that was made popular in the Prince of Persia line, and some standard issue axes, a sword and bow. I don't mean to downplay the pieces as they fit the set perfectly, but there is nothing here we haven't seen before.

The Wargs

Front:

Here is my favorite picture form this review. The new wolves which are known as Wargs. You get one of each color, white and grey. The white one looks much more sinister with the coloring around the eyes. The mouths open and close, there is a double dot system that allows the mouth to either remain closed or open. (see below)

Mouth Hinge:

You can see the large indentation which is for the main hinge, but above it there are 2 very small indentations and these click when you open or close the mouth. I think it's a nice feature as the mouth stays in the position you put it in, unless of course you want the mouth half closed.

Side view:

The legs do not move, and they have the double stud just like a horse does and the saddles fit them just like a horse. The set does come with color matched bricks to fill in the Warg if you don't want to have the saddle on.

Pieces: Bag 1

Parts bag 1 contains most of the minifigures, some nice trans orange studs, some flames, and the pieces to construct the rock form that the Warg can howl on.

Bag 1 build 1:

The first structure you build is the base for the rock form. There is a small bone and skull from some poor soul who probably crossed a Warg. A nice mixture of light grey and dark grey.

Bag 1 Build 2:

We now snap on the actual perch that the Warg can attach to. With the Wargs having non-movable legs this is a nice place for the animal to be perched.

Bag 1 Build 2:

Next we snap on the small catapult. There are 2, 1 stud round bricks that act as projectiles. I will show how the catapult works later, but ti's very basic. Load up the catapult and press down on the opposite side.

Bag 1 Build 4:

Next you build two small fires which confused me for a moment when building. I assumed they were meant to be projectiles used in the catapult. It turns out they are just there as fire. Personally I think they'd make great fire bombs, and they do fit in the catapults holder.

Catapult Operation:

By placing one of the round bricks in the catapult and pressing down, the projectile will fly into the tree we will build later and presumably start a fire.

Pieces Bag 2:

This will be the last bag picture because I managed to forget to take a picture of the parts in bag 3. The pieces in bag 3 are similar to bag one as they only extend the height of the tree.

Bag 2 build 1:

Here we have the base of the tree. The center of the tree is on a turntable brick. The base starts pretty small, but the tree grows.

Bag 2 Build 2:

Layer two of the tree starts to branch out literally and like the layer below it, the center piece is on a turntable brick,

Bag 2 build 3:

The 3rd layer of the tree is shown here. If you can spot the forward facing stud, then you've found a flick fire feature of this tree. I'll go over this later.

Bag 2 Build 4:

Now the 3rd layer has been added and the tree is starting to take shape. The forward facing stud is more noticeable. I must say the leaf color combination looks great.

Bag 3 Build 1:

Unfortunately I don't have the parts picture of bag 3 but it is basically the same as bag 2, brown and green tree pieces. The 4th and final layer is shown and this also has a flick fire feature, you can spot it by the red technic brick holding the pin.

Final Tree:

With the 4th layer on top, the tree is now complete and looks great. It really reminds me of some of the great MOC tree's I see all over Eurobricks. The 1st and second levels can swivel on the turntable pieces, but the rotation is limited, so it's almost a moot point, at least when you have the minifigures in the tree.

Complete Set:

We now have the full set in all it's glory. It doesn't look like much, but the tree is actually pretty large. I was pleased with the size of this set in total. In this picture the tree is straight and the small fire pieces are placed strategically on the tree. The top left blue flame and lower right orange flame are in front of the flick fire pins so you can launch a fire bomb on any incoming Orcs.

Complete Set alternate view:

In this view, I have slightly moved the middle section of the tree as you can see by the now crooked brick and the flick fire fire bombs have been launched onto one of the Orcs. You can see the two flick fire pins clearly now.

Totals:

Design: 9/10 I really liked the design of this set. The Wargs are just fantastic and I like the large tree structure you get. I often am amazed at the foliage creations I see in custom MOC's and this tree reminds me of some of those creations. TLG really did a good job designing this tree. The rock formation basically serves the purpose of a perch for the Warg and that's about it. For the price point this set is at, I think a base plate would have really solidified this set and is within reason for this set, unlike my request on the 79001 set. Overall just judging design, I think this set was designed well.

Parts: 8/10 I ranked the parts an 8 because I feel that for the money it seems like you should have gotten just a little bit more. Licensed sets usually do carry a higher price tag which is understandable with licensing fees and all. I'm a sucker for trans pieces so TLG won me over there. I have also been building up a collection of greens and browns since they are so useful in any MOC depicting the outdoors. I like the parts in this set but your mileage may vary.

Build: 9/10 I usually factor in the difficulty of the build and how well a set is actually constructed. There was nothing difficult about this build yet I appreciate the rotating center of the tree, even though it does't turn that much. The rock piece is more of a piece to just look at but I like that they included something for the new Warg animals. The tree leaves do make this tree a little fragile but if you're careful the set will stay in tack.

Minifigs: 9/10 The minifigs in this set are great. They look good, they have nice printing and you get 5 plus the two Wargs. The Wargs alone make this set a desirable one. I'd suspect these guys will fetch a premium until they are released in more sets. The minifigures are equipped nicely with a range of weapons and you get a good mix of good guys and bad guys. The beard piece on Bifur is similar to Hagrid's hairpiece but it's slightly different and I believe it is a new mold. Overall the figures really make this set worth it.

Playability: 8/10 I love the playability features that TLG always manage to fit into their sets even in the smaller ones or odd shaped ones like the tree for example. If you take the minifigures out of the way the tree can rotate all the way around although I'm not sure why it rotates, I'm guessing the movie might clear that up. As much as flick fire type items have their lovers and haters, I really like these ones because you can attach the flame pieces to the tree so they don't fall out until you actuate the flick. I think a base plate would make this set a 10/10, but that's just my personal wish that LEGO would bring back the base plate in numbers. Overall it fits in well with the Lord of the Rings sets and other Hobbit sets, it would actually go very well with 79001. Escape from Mirkwood Spiders

Price: 8/10 Granted I received this set as a review unit and I'm ever grateful to TLG for being so generous, the retail price on this set seems just a little high. In terms of piece per dollar, it's pretty spot on with any other licensed theme. I think since there isn't a vehicle or something besides the tree, it seems like it may be lacking. When there are a lot of small pieces, the set sometimes looks smaller than it is. The minifigures really do help justify the price though.

Total: 51/60 At 85% this is a good score. Regardless of any minor gripes I may have, the set is great. I love the tree and how big it turns out to be. The minifigures and Wargs and the main reason to pick this set up. As of right now this is the only set that contains the Wargs and they are awesome. At 400 pieces the price is actually right on, but there are a lot of smaller pieces so it may seam misleading. This set fits right in line with the Lord of the Rings sets and if it wasn't for the Hobbit on the box and the unfamiliar characters, you'd think it was. As for the big question, should you buy it or not. I'd say if you like the series then yes. If you are on the fence then the minifigures may be the dealbreaker, as none of the parts are super rare or in any extra ordinary colors. The Hobbit line is looking to be as good as the previous Lord of the Rings sets and i look forward to seeing the rest of the first wave sets as well as future waves.

I like everything about this set, except the price (in Euros). It's preposterous even if it's a licensed theme. I like the quality of the pics, but you could've added pics of the front- and backprinting dwarfs without the cape, quiver and armor.

This set looks awesome. I love big trees for some reason. I'm not sure if I will actually build this one, but it looks neat and has some nice play features. Maybe a good place for my Forestmen. I love the dwarves and more orcs! I like how the torsos can be used across themes with yellow or licensed skin tone. And Yazneg could also be a form of a zombie for those post-apoc MOCers.

Thanks for the review. I will definitely pick it up, but again will probably wait for a sale. I'm liking this theme a lot!

This is a great set! I love the figures and the Wargs are plain amazing! I also love the rock that Yazneg stands on. I'll probably add that to the middle of my Helm's Deep battle field. The only thing i'm upset about is that we have an uneven amount of grey Wargs. The white Warg is the Warg leader, and I'll most likely put Bolg on it when Bolg is made as a figure. But as of right now, we don't have any other named orcs other than Yazneg, which means that a generic orc will have to ride this Warg, which would make my orc army an odd number of foot soldiers and generic mounted soldiers. I would have loved to get maybe another Warg or another named orc. But that is just sorta my own nitpick with the set. Overall, it's really great.

Oh yeah, an Orcrist would have been great. Shame LEGO decided to not do a new mould for Thorin.

Thanks for the review! I voted "above average", due to the wargs and great minifigures. I'm glad that the nose printing on the white warg is less vivid in colour than shown on the CGI picture (at least I hope it is based on this review. Thorin will receive a small blue cape which will fix him in my eyes, and Bifur is simply awesome!

The rock piece reminds me of a launching space ship and I'm not a fan of the tree. I realise the obvious difficulty in designing organic structures with LEGO, particularly regarding the necessity of having some space for the dwarves to stand on. Still, the red colour around the flick-fire missles hurt my eyes, and the amount of foliage seems too small compared to the size of the trunk. Competition for nutrients from the mushrooms and insufficient photosynthetic capability? It doesn't look good for the poor tree. But then, it's about to be set on fire, so it's a moot point to argue.

Thanks for the review Bigcam.
Altough this set isn´t that special I will get it for the minifigs and th wargas, the rest is just plain brick surplus.
The wargas could been better if TLG would had made the legs posing as the new horses, why not use this great new thing here also?But one thing that bug me with the orc minifigs, especially now with Yazneg, his ears are lacking. Ok he is bald but Lego should make up some piece for bald guys (maybe like the piece for Darth Maul and Savage Opress), he is a orc but he dosen´t have the pointed ears. The same goes for several orcs in diffrent LOTRs sets, its a small thing but annoying.

Another excellent LEGO Hobbit review, Big Cam. The tree looks great with the combination of two different shades of green, which adds variety. The printing of the minifigures just looks stunning I have to say. The wargs also look excellent, but I would have preferred it if they could move. However, this really isn't much of a problem.